Administration escalates fight over Congress's spending power

The administration is pursuing an approximately $810 million pocket rescission of funds Congress already appropriated shortly before the fiscal year ends. Sen. Susan Collins and other appropriations figures have objected, while a taxpayer-funded White House ad campaign featuring Trump has raised related questions about appropriated communications, anti-propaganda rules, and GAO oversight. Litigation and congressional scrutiny could establish precedents for executive impoundment and political messaging with public funds.